Disclaimer: I don't own the Ninja Turtles. Why? Because I'm not motivated. XD
First things first…
I AM SOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel unbelievably bad about how long it's been since I last updated, but this new semester has been crazy. My classes have been a lot busier than I expected, and the homework/exams/studying required for all of them is taking over my life. I have still been working on this, but it's been admittedly slow, as you guys could probably tell by how long this has taken. I promise, for anyone who wants to kill me for how long this has taken, after I finish the story, I will give out my address so that you guys know where to find me and beat me up. Honest. . I hate how long this has dangled for, but my schoolwork has to come first, unfortunately.
Next, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: RandomlyInsaneWhitePony, The Burninator Named Trogdor, Tristripe, BubblyShell22, and Amberli Raven.
Once again, I am so sorry for how long this took. And I will not let it happen again. Spring Break is coming up in two weeks, so hopefully I can knock out a good portion of the story during that time. Please bear with me through this, and thank you so much for sticking with me this long. Sorry again, and please enjoy.
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"Leonardo is awake?" Splinter asked. At Raph's nod, he smiled and sighed. "That is indeed good news."
Don and Mikey both spoke at the same time as soon as Splinter finished.
"Can we go see him?"
Raph shrugged. "Don't see why not. He seems like he'll be up fer at least a little while. You comin' too, Sensei?"
Splinter shook his head. "I shall go see Leonardo after you three are finished. Go. Spend some time with your brother, but do not tire him out. He has only just awakened."
The three of them bowed and headed for Leo's room. They all paused instinctively at the door; normally only one of them was in the room at a time, because the emotions felt in that room were too deep, too personal to reveal. Raph moved first, sighing at himself and his brothers. A small grin crept onto his face and he gave a small shove to Mikey's shell; the youngest turtle was lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.
Mikey looked back at Raph and at his nod shoved the door open.
Leo was in bed as usual, smiling tiredly at them and looking somehow smaller…
But awake.
Mikey's grin nearly split his face, and he charged towards his brother. "Leo!"
"Woah!" Raph darted forward, grabbing Mikey's arm and jerking his younger brother to a stop. "Hey, Mikey, he's hurt, remember?"
"Oh shell." Don pushed past his brothers, moving quickly to the supply cabinet. "Leo, I'm so sorry, I forgot the pain medicine. You were unconscious and so low on blood, and your body couldn't handle the medicine and—"
"Don." The quiet voice stilled the purple-banded turtle's rambling. Leo gave a tight smile. "It's okay, bro. I haven't exactly been…awake recently, so it didn't really matter. But I'd…appreciate it now," he said carefully, breathing shallowly through the pain in his side.
"Not a problem." Don pulled out a full syringe and carefully injected it into his brother's arm. As soon as he was finished, he smiled and squeezed Leo's shoulder. "Sorry again, bro. That should kick in pretty soon."
"Thanks. So how—"
Leo got no further before a blur of white and black shot into the room and jumped up onto the end of the bed. The blue-banded turtle broke off in surprise and stared at the cat sitting on his feet.
"Um…did somebody dye Klunk?" he asked.
Three green heads shook a negative.
"Okay…then this is…?"
"That is the devil's cat," Raph grumbled, glaring at the cat as it walked up the length of the bed and carefully curled up on Leo's lap.
"For once, I will actually agree with you, Raph," Don said.
"What?" Leo asked, confused.
"They're just being judgmental," Mikey piped up. "He saved you, bro. He showed me where you were in that alley."
"Really?" Leo glanced down at the cat and smiled a little, then stroked it gently. "Well, then I suppose I owe you a thank you, huh? What's so bad about him?" he asked as he looked up. "He seems really well-behaved."
Raph snorted. "It's an act. This is one'a the few times it ain't been buggin' me," he replied.
"It also didn't believe me when I told it how you were doing," Don added.
Leo just stared at him.
"I'm not as crazy as that makes me sound!" Don protested at the strange looks he was getting. "Ask Mikey what the cat does!"
Mikey grinned at his brother's aggravation. "Don really isn't crazy; at least not this time," he said jokingly to Leo. "This little guy kept coming by the room while you were out of it, and he wouldn't leave until we told him you were alright. Donnie's just mad 'cause the cat wouldn't listen to him."
"I told him how you were doing," Don grumbled, shooting a disdainful look at the cat. "But no, he had to check for himself."
Leo chuckled slightly at his brother's irritation. "Well, it never hurts to get a second opinion. So other than that, what's he like?"
"Annoyin'," Raph offered.
"Cute," Mikey protested in defense.
"Smart," Don admitted grudgingly. "Even beyond the whole "checking up" on you thing. Every time after he's ticked Raph off, he always heads straight for Master Splinter. Somehow he found that Sensei has a soft spot for him."
Leo laughed again. "So you are a crafty little fellow, aren't you?" he asked the cat admiringly.
The cat purred and rubbed his head against Leo's hand.
"Hey, never underestimate the importance of good survival instincts," Mikey said with a grin.
"So what're ya gonna call 'im?" Raph asked.
Leo studied the cat, then smiled. "Well, if he really is as much of a rogue as you guys say, then I think…Chame."
"'Mischief'?" Don translated with a smirk. "Fits perfectly if you ask me."
Mikey sighed and scratched the cat on the head. "Poor little guy," he said with dramatic sympathy. "Just like me…so misunderstood."
"Misunderstood?" Raph snorted derisively. "No one understands ya in the first place, chucklehead, so what is there ta misunderstand?"
"Plenty!" Mikey said defensively. "I'm an extremely deep turtle, I'll have you know."
"Deep?" Raph laughed. "Yer about as deep as a kiddy pool, Mikey."
"C'mon, guys, pack it in," Don sighed, smiling despite himself.
"How are you all doing?" Leo asked when they quieted. "Is everyone okay?"
Raph sighed. "We're fine, bro. Not a scratch on us other'n what we have from gettin' drugged."
"What happened to you guys?" Leo asked suddenly. "That night, after we got drugged…what happened?"
"Not much, honestly," Don offered. "Not that we were awake for, anyway. Sensei told us what went down. Apparently, Karai had the three of us bugged, and then called Sensei to come get us, saying she'd kill us if he didn't. That way, she could find out where the Lair was and…"
"Yeah, she told me that part…" Leo murmured, his tone subdued.
Don coughed awkwardly. "Anyways, they found the bugs and got them off, then brought us home. It took us a while to recover from the sedative, but then we went out looking for you. We found the building where you and Karai fought, and then followed our intuition. After that, we combed the alleys between Foot headquarters and the Lair, and then we found you."
Leo sighed. "I'm glad that everything worked out. That's a relief."
The mention of what happened silenced them all, until Mikey broke the silence.
"Hey, Leo?" Mikey piped up cautiously. When the blue-banded turtle looked at him silently, he continued. "What…what happened to you that night?"
When Leo hesitated, Raph spoke up as well. "Fair's fair, bro," he said gruffly, folding his arms. "We filled ya in on our little evenin' of fun, now it's your turn."
Leo smiled slightly. "All's fair in love and war," he mused quietly. "…Okay." He took a breath and began slowly.
"I know you guys know what happened up until the rooftop. After you got darted, Karai sedated me too. When I woke up…you were gone. I was alone with Karai somewhere in an older section of town on one of the rooftops. I didn't recognize where we were. I was nearly out of my mind with worry; Karai told me what had happened to you…and what she planned to have happen."
"An' ya actually believed her?" Raph asked.
"It was so easy to, Raph," Leo pointed out. "Her plan sounded seamless, and it was so easy to imagine going back home and seeing everything destroyed, just like when I got back from Japan. I couldn't think of anything to do but to fight her; I was so sure you were dead…all I had left was to avenge you."
Mikey watched the expressions chase across Leo's face and spoke up again, trying to distract the eldest from his thoughts. "So that's when you guys fought?"
"No," Leo said quietly. "Not for a while. Which was fortunate, since I was still trying to shake off the effects of the sedative."
Raph raised an eye derisively. "An' Karai just waited for ya? How polite."
Leo glanced away. "We had a lot to talk about," he murmured. "It was the same for both of us; more than each other's death, we wanted some answers."
"To which questions?" Don asked softly.
"To all of them. There was…so much that neither of us understood, so many questions we had…but there was too much blood between us, too much to be washed away by any kind of answer. We said…a lot of things, everything we thought we needed to say. And then we fought. It was fine until she sliced my leg. It was bleeding pretty heavily from all the movement, and I lost my balance when I stepped in it. Karai went in for the kill, and then…she stopped."
All three of his brother's eyes widened. "What?"
"She actually stopped?" Raph repeated in disbelief. "You gotta be shittin' me."
"I'm not. She pulled her strike. And I thought…I thought that was it, that she had finally made her choice…and she had. Just…not the one I'd been hoping for. She finished her attack." Leo traced his hand down the line of bandages on his plastron. "That's when she got me in the side. It hurt like hell, even more than my shell wound. It just…burned all over."
Don murmured sympathetically. "That's not surprising. There are a lot of nerves there."
"Yeah…"
"So what happened next?" Mikey asked carefully.
"I…I stabbed her. It was a gut strike…it ended things. We both just kind of stopped then. Neither of could move very well, and we were both bleeding too much to want to. More things were said, and then…she died. I couldn't just leave her there, so I took her back to Foot headquarters. She deserved a burial, and I couldn't give that to her."
Raph sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "She almost killed ya, bro," he pointed out as tactfully as he could.
Leo met his brother's eyes. "I know that, Raph, but it's hard to be mad at…a corpse," he said quietly, looking away. "So I took her back. After that, I tried to head home, but I only made it to that alley; that was all the farther I could go. You know the rest."
"I'm sorry, bro," Mikey said quietly, breaking the silence of the room.
"Me too, Mikey," Leo whispered, his eyelids lowering. "But it had to happen."
Don put a gentle hand on Leo's shoulder. "Why don't you get some more sleep, Leo," he suggested. "That medicine is probably going to hit you pretty hard now. I'll go grab Sensei so you can see him before—"
"No."
"No?" Don asked, confused. "What do you mean, Leo?"
"I—I don't want to see him."
"Leo, what—"
"Please. I can't—I can't talk to him. Not now. Not yet. I don't—I don't want to say anything I will regret later. I don't want to talk to him, not until I no longer blame him. Please. I just—need some time."
"Don't worry about it, Leo," Don said quietly, placing a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "We'll take care of it."
"Thanks," Leo whispered, his eyes falling shut.
Don motioned towards the door with his head, and the three of them filed out of the room silently.
"Guys?" Mikey spoke up quietly.
Raph and Don both turned to look at their younger brother. "What is it, Mikey?"
"You…you don't think Leo really blames Sensei, do you?"
The two older turtles were both silent.
"He might," Don answered softly. "Leo is used to assigning blame to actions; if he does something wrong and someone gets hurt, it's automatically his fault. That's just the way he thinks. And he thinks that way all the time, that it's his fault…he rarely blames other people. But this time…maybe he actually looked at it this time and realized it wasn't his fault. We all know Leo gave Karai a lot of chances to change, but whether she did or not was out of his control. Subconsciously, he might have realized that he did all he could. But again, he's used to painful results being the consequence of someone's actions. I don't think he blames himself, and I'm somewhat sure he doesn't blame Karai, so then…" Don sighed and shrugged. "We're left with a Romeo and Juliet scenario."
Mikey and Raph just stared at their brother.
"Um, Don, that didn't make much sense," Raph said slowly.
Don smiled sadly. "In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet loved each other. They were a wonderful couple, they were willing to do anything to be together, and their worlds revolved around each other. The only thing that stood in the way of them being together…"
"Was their families," Mikey finished quietly.
"Right," Don agreed. "Leo knows, at least on some level, that this isn't his fault, and he's not willing to blame Karai either. So that leaves…"
"Shredder and Master Splinter?" Raph asked in disbelief. "You gotta be kiddin' me, Donnie."
Don shrugged. "I'm just guessing here, Raph. Leo is used to responsibility, but for him, blame has always gone hand in hand with that." The purple-banded turtle looked back at his oldest brother and felt something pull at his heart.
"He hasn't fully learned yet that sometimes pain is just the result of a bad twist of fate."
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Don frowned at the text blinking on the screen. 'Encoding error…insufficient data.' Insufficient data? Okay, fine. But in which line?
"Hey, Donnie?" Mikey's voice came from behind Don's chair hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Um, there's something I wanna ask you about."
"Can you—" Don was about to ask his brother if it could wait until later, when he remembered what he and Raph had overheard Mikey saying the other day. At that, he saved his project and faced his brother. "What is it?"
"Okay…" Mikey took a deep breath. "I wasn't really planning on doing this now, 'cause I know it's probably too early for him, but I was thinking that maybe in a couple days, you know, when he's had a little time to deal with everything, that maybe it might be a good idea."
Don stared at his brother blankly. "Um…what are you talking about, Mikey?"
Mikey glanced down at his hands, then handed a videotape to his brother.
The purple-banded turtle took the tape, looking at Mikey in confusion. "What's this?"
"It's…" Mikey looked up at Don uncertainly before continuing. "It's a recording of Karai's funeral. I taped it when they showed it on the news the other day. I thought—I thought Leo should see it, or that he might want to see it, at least. What do you think?"
Don looked at the tape silently, remembering what Leo had said. The pain in Leo's voice and expression still remained fixed in Don's memory, as did his words. Several minutes passed as Don contemplated Mikey's question. He finally handed the tape back to his brother.
"Donnie?"
"Show Leo the tape," Don said quietly. "But wait a few days; he only woke up the day before yesterday, and he needs to try and come to terms with what happened before he can see something like this. But show it to him. It was a good idea to tape this, Mikey; I think it would do Leo good to see this. He…he'll need the closure."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. But like I said, give him some time. He only just woke up."
Mikey nodded. "Yeah." He stood and tucked the tape under his arm, grinning slightly at Don as he left. "Thanks, bro."
Don watched as his brother left, then sighed, closing his program down as his mind refused to focus; once again, he was too busy thinking about Leo.
They were out of the danger zone now, and technically had been since Leo's fever broke and he woke up. It had been two days since then, and given how much the turtle disliked the infirmary, Don had had Leo moved to his own room. It was a slow trip, though; while Leo's wounds had begun healing during his week of unconsciousness, they still had a ways to go, and he was still weak from the blood loss.
As they had quickly learned, Leo was far from better. He was normally awake only about six hours a day; he'd wake up about twice a day for three hours. They would cajole (or in Raph's case, threaten) him into eating, then help him to the bathroom. After that, it was straight back to sleep; the exertion of walking, despite the brevity of the trip, still exhausted him. Beyond that, Don knew, Leo's body was still trying to replace the dangerous amount of blood that he'd lost. His wounds were doing well, aided by the sleep and Leo's natural good health; the slice in his leg was nearly closed, and the stitches would be removed in a few days. Leo's side still worried the brainy turtle; thin or not, the wound had been deep. Don had removed the stitches earlier that day, and the cut had essentially healed, at least on the surface. Leo was still hesitant to move much, though, since the injury constantly pulled even at the slightest motion. But with the blood loss, Leo was still far enough from his normal strength level that he was willing to spend most of the day sleeping.
Physically, Leo was recovering well.
Emotionally, though…
Emotionally, who can tell? Don mused wearily to himself. Like usual, Leo was keeping his feelings to himself. Another sigh escaped the purple-banded turtle. Other than what he'd told them after he woke up, Leo hadn't really said anything. They could all tell that things were still bothering him, though; after so many years living together, they could all at least tell when Leo was hiding something, even if they couldn't figure out what.
This time, though, it was easy to figure out the source of Leo's problems. Don, Raph and Mikey knew what a sensitive subject Karai was for their brother, and as such, though they often came to talk to him, none of them mentioned the kunoichi. They were trying to run interference for him with Splinter as well; despite when the rat occasionally stopped in to check on him, Leo saw little of their father.
Don sighed, trying to organize his thoughts. I know Leo asked for some time in order to come to grips with things, but putting this off isn't going to help. And Raph and Mikey aren't that keen on continuing to keep Splinter in the dark either. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
In this family, if it's not one thing, it's another.
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Mikey sighed as he paced another lap of his room. He'd been trying to figure out when to show the tape to Leo, and he still wasn't sure. He sighed expansively and flopped down on his bed.
It's been four days since Leo woke up…is that enough time?
The orange-banded turtle had begun to feel anxious about showing the tape to his older brother, despite his equal concern to make sure Leo was ready for it. The atmosphere in the Lair was still subdued; they could all tell Leo still wasn't over what had happened. Unfortunately, he didn't even seem to be recovering from it at all.
Another sigh.
Patience is a virtue. I don't wanna push this on Leo if it's too soon. Patience is a virtue.
Mikey turned his head to the side, only to open his eyes and end up staring at the tape.
Okay, screw patience.
He grabbed the tape off his nightstand and made his way to Leo's room. Mikey took a deep breath and knocked on Leo's door smartly, then flung it open.
"Hey, Leo, I've got something—"
The room was empty.
"…to show you." Mikey gave a strangled groan and slammed his head into the door. "This is just great. I can't even find an invalid turtle."
Making his way out of Leo's room, he ambled towards Don's lab, intent on finding Leo, when he saw a familiar blue bandana above the back of the couch. He grinned. Finally.
"Hey, how're you doin', Leo?" Mikey asked as he draped himself over the back of the couch.
"Pretty good, considering."
Mikey grinned. "I'll say. It looks like 'The Warden' let you out of your cell," he joked.
Leo laughed. "Yeah, I'm on parole for good behavior."
Don leaned around the corner, directing a glare at his brothers at the nickname. "'The Warden' would appreciate a little more gratefulness and quiet, unless you both want to be molecularly deconstructed and then put in solitary."
"I'm grateful, really!" Leo insisted. "I appreciate getting out of my room."
"And I'll do the quiet thing," Mikey added quickly. "I like my molecules where they are; you know, all solid and keeping me alive? Yeah, it's pretty cool."
Don shook his head and disappeared back into his workroom. "You are both very lucky that I am not an actual warden, because if I was, I probably would have shorted out my taser on you two by now," he muttered.
Mikey snickered quietly. "He loves us, he just doesn't want to admit it," he told Leo assuredly. "So, whatcha doin'? Complicated meditation techniques? Unraveling the fabric of the universe with your mind? Trying to remember where you left your socks?"
Leo eyed his brother in amused disbelief. "You have way too much sugar in your diet. And actually, I'm just resting from the trip out here. I hate to say it, but I've got farther to go to get back to normal than I'd like to admit."
"Are your leg and side hurting you?" Mikey asked in concern.
"A little," Leo said, placing a gentle hand on the bandages that swathed his side. "My leg's still not up to fully supporting my weight, and my side…is kind of sore."
"Meaning it hurts like shell, but you're not gonna admit it 'cause then Donnie'll put you right back in bed, right?" Mikey translated. He smirked at his brother's look of surprise. "I know you're trying to hide it, bro, but I can tell it still hurts ya. You wince a lot whenever you're hauling yourself outta bed."
Leo sighed slightly. "Okay, yes, it still hurts. But if I stay in that bed anymore, I'm going to go insane."
"Stir crazy?" Mikey asked, grinning slightly. "You an' Raph have always been awful at understanding the whole 'stop-moving-so-you-stop-bleeding' concept."
"No, more like…thinking too much," Leo said quietly. "I…I feel like I've come to terms with what happened, with what was said, with what there was between me and Karai, but…I just still can't seem to let it go, to let her go."
Mikey felt his heart tug slightly at the pain he could hear edging his brother's words. "No one said you had to let her go, Leo," he pointed out gently.
"I know. And—I don't want to, at least not like forgetting her. It's just—I don't know. I don't want to hold onto this like I did before…letting everything that went wrong poison me, but there's still so much—pain surrounding what happened to us. I feel like I need to lay her to rest. I feel like…like there's a door that's still open, but I'm not sure how to close it." Leo gave a short, dry laugh. "Doesn't make much sense, does it?"
Mikey didn't respond other than to snake his arm around Leo and give him a hug. When he pulled away, he moved towards the TV and popped a tape into the VCR.
Leo stared at his brother in confusion. "What's the tape for?"
"It's for you, bro," Mikey said, smiling at his brother as he left the room. "Just something to help you close that door."
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Leo watched Mikey leave the room. Apprehension stirred in his stomach as he processed his brother's words, but a flickering of sound called his attention back to the television.
The last half of a commercial flashed across the screen, followed by the familiar sound of a news jingle. A dark-haired man armed with papers appeared on the screen.
"Good evening and thank you for joining us for the five o'clock news. Our big story for today is the coverage of the funeral service for one of New York's elite. The funeral service and burial of Ms. Oroku Karai took place yesterday evening at 7:30 at the North Main cemetery."
Oh no. Leo froze as soon as he heard those words. Voices started warring in his head. 'I don't want to see this' clashed with 'I need to see this', freezing him in place as he tried to stabilize himself.
"Many people questioned the event, given the scandal surrounding Ms. Oroku's father, the well-known businessman Oroku Saki. However, it seems as though none of that strangeness was part of his legacy; Ms. Oroku died on April 19th of natural causes. The coroner reports that she passed away rather suddenly due to complications of the heart."
Leo gripped the arm of the couch, preparing to leave, when Mikey's words repeated themselves in Leo's head:
"Something to help you close that door."
So he stayed. As the rites were read, as the ceremony was concluded, and as the casket was lowered into the ground and covered with earth…
He stayed.
As the tape ended, Leo felt something within him crack. A sharp pain began growing in his chest as he carefully made his way to his room. He entered and quietly closed the door, then sat on his bed.
"Karai…" Leo whispered quietly to the darkness in his room, and another crack appeared in the defenses he'd raised. Ever since Leo had awoken, he had walled up his heart. He knew he needed to face what had happened, to actually mourn…but until now he hadn't been able to bring himself to take down the wall. The pain that lurked behind it was pain that Leo didn't think he could handle.
But now I must. I can't…I can't hold this back anymore.
"But what do I do?" he asked the darkness quietly.
Let her go, his heart told him softly. You cannot heal until you let go.
I don't want to forget her.
You are not forgetting her. You are putting her to rest. You are forgiving yourself.
Leo gasped quietly at the realization. He'd sworn that he wouldn't punish himself for things he couldn't control, that he would never again let himself be swallowed by his anger at what he couldn't change, that he would stop looking for blame where there was none…but he was doing it again. I am remembering Karai as another one of my failures…not as the woman I loved…
No. She doesn't deserve that…and neither do I. I—I did not fail. We just…weren't meant to be. But we tried, we both tried so hard…we did all that we could. I did all that I could.
What's done is done. All I can do now is…
"Move forward," Leo told himself softly. He closed his eyes and carefully approached the stone wall around his heart.
It is over now.
We both did all that we could. I did everything I could.
We at least had one moment with each other.
Karai was laid to rest as herself, not the Shredder…it's the best I could give her.
She is free now…
I am free now…
We are free now, free just to love…
Each admittance struck a hole in the dam surrounding his heart, and he took a deep breath before striking the final blow.
Goodbye, Karai.
The wall shattered, then give way completely. He'd no sooner buried his face in his hands before the dam broke. Then at last he let the tears begin to fall, crying quietly as he said good bye to the woman he loved.
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Raph edged around the corner of the hallway, eyes searching the darkness carefully. He listened carefully for a moment, then sighed.
Good, no one's up.
Certain that he was the only one awake, he swiftly made his way to the dojo. Moving as quietly as he could, he opened the weapons cabinet and began to stock up on supplies.
Shuriken…kunai…smoke and poison bombs…
A glitter of light on metal caught his eye, and he studied it carefully before grinning and attaching the weapons to his belt.
An extra edge couldn't hurt, right?
He ran over the events of the past few days in his mind. They'd all been extremely relieved when Leo had woken up for the first time, and things had fortunately continued to improve. And then two days ago, things had changed again. Leo had seemed…different, better…
Healed.
Raph smiled slightly to himself. I guess Mikey's tape really did the trick.
It had been hard to see Leo in so much pain, both physical and emotional. The physical had been ebbing slowly, but none of them knew how to touch the emotional pain Leo still suffered from.
Except Mikey.
After they discovered the tape in the VCR and Leo nowhere to be found, they'd all worried. It was Splinter who reported having seen Leo go to his room. Raph had wanted to go to him, but Don held him back.
"Now more than ever, he needs to be alone, Raph. This isn't something you can help him with. He has to heal from this on his own, and now he's finally ready to do so."
Leo didn't emerge until late the next day, but they could all feel the change; he felt like himself again, exuding the same calm they'd all grown so used to. As he continued to load himself with supplies, Raph sighed. It took him long enough, but at least he finally let 'er go.
And I say good riddance.
Raph couldn't understand how Leo could love someone like Karai. They were both very similar, true, but in Raph's mind, that was not enough to go on. He'd never been able to understand why Leo was willing to love someone he couldn't trust, and Karai could not be trusted.
Ya'd think that woulda been obvious after the first two times she betrayed him.
An angry hiss escaped the red-banded turtle. He didn't really care if Leo loved Karai, or even that she loved him; after everything she'd done to hurt his family, nothing was enough to redeem her. Raph grit his teeth. He knew it was best that things had unfolded as they had, that Leo had been the one to end it, to end her…but part of him still wished he could have been the one to avenge all the hurt done to his family.
And especially to Leo.
Raph's eyes narrowed. That was the crux of the matter. Despite every fight, every yelling match or dismissal of the other's feelings, despite everything…Raph cared about his brother. Of all of them, he felt closest to Leo. And Karai had wounded Leo deeply; not once, but many times, on so many levels.
An' each time, I couldn't do a damn thing. All I could do was sit back while Leo gave that ikeike (1) "one more chance" every single frickin' time. Even after what happened on Shred-head's spaceship, he still didn't kill her. And she just kept takin' advantage of him. Each time he'd trust her and give 'er another chance, she'd just use it to get close to him and stab him in the back again. He snarled and closed the cabinet. Well, that's over now. She's gone for good, and there aren't any Shredders left.
But…
But the Foot is still here. An' that's gotta change.
I couldn't kill Saki. I couldn't kill Karai. I couldn't save my family from all the shit we've gone through…
But I can, and will, now.
Rage, worry, and protectiveness had swirled together in Raph's heart and mind, blending into one crystal-clear, bloody truth:
The Foot had gone too far, and now they were going to pay for it.
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Don sighed and pushed back from his computer. He'd already caught himself making his third mistake on the program he was coding, a sure sign that his fatigue was catching up with him. He smirked ruefully as he glanced at the clock. I guess two o'clock in the morning is as good a time as any to go to bed, he mused. Stretching widely, Don stood and walked out of the lab.
He quietly shut the door and padded across the Lair, moving as silently as he could. The family knew he kept late hours, and half of them were heavy sleepers, but he'd rather not get lectured for staying up this late. Don had heard Raph get enough talks from Leo and Splinter to want to be on the receiving end of one.
A sudden creak from behind made Don cringe slightly, expecting a lecture. Here we go…He turned around, mentally preparing a defense for himself. However, the turtle behind him wasn't the one he'd been expecting.
"Raph?"
The red-banded turtle turned around as well, raising an eye ridge. "Don? What're you doin' up so late?"
"Situational simulation assemblage encoding," Don replied smoothly.
Raph's face went blank. "…Right."
Don hid a grin. None of his brothers ever really tried to understand the technological terms he used. Often times it was annoying, especially when he'd explain something clearly (perfectly clearly, in his mind), only to be asked to repeat what he'd said "in English." However, at times like these, it was extremely useful as a distraction. "So what about you?"
"Just goin' out for some air."
"Mm-hm," Don responded doubtfully. Raph shifted slightly and light glinted off of something hanging from his belt.
Don narrowed his eyes as the objects took the form of another set of weapons. Those aren't Raph's sai. He looked closer and recognized a pair of sun and moon daggers from the dojo. As his sight grew more accustomed to the shadows, he noticed the various other weapons Raph bore; an extra pouch of shuriken at his belt, shuko spikes hanging from one hand, and a small bag of explosives and smoke screens keeping the shuriken company. Don could feel his muscles tense rapidly.
"Raph, where are you going?"
Raph met his brother's eyes easily, though Don could sense the impatience in the red-banded turtle's stance. "I told ya, just out for a walk."
"You're going after the Foot," Don said flatly, disbelief and fear warring for control of his emotional state.
The red-banded turtle clicked his tongue and sighed in annoyance. "Don—"
"So what, you're just planning on annihilating the entire clan all by yourself?" Don cut in, interrupting his brother.
"Hell no." A shark's smile took over Raph's face. "Yer welcome ta join in on the fun anytime ya want."
"Raph—"
"They went too far. I know it was Karai that did this ta Leo, but that ain't the point. She's gone; they ain't got anyone left. No Shredder, no leader, nothin'. And there's a lotta blood to pay back. It's time for us to end this." He pulled out a sai, turning it back and forth, his eyes caressing the polished metal. "D'ya know that sayin', Don? About how for some things, ya do 'em, and there's hell to pay?" He raised his eyes to his brother.
Don swallowed hard. Only a few times had he seen that look in Raph's gaze, and it chilled him to the core. "Raph—" Another look stopped the words in his throat and he nodded instead. "Yeah, I know the saying."
Raph nodded, and his eyes returned to his weapon. A dark look crossed his face, soaking into his features and settling into the depths of his eyes. "Well, guess what?" he asked, his voice eerily mild. He carefully sheathed the sai, then looked up again. "Mess with my family, an' there is hell ta pay. An' now…" He turned his back on his brother and headed for the door to the Lair.
"Now hell's comin' ta collect payment."
"Raph, no!" Don darted forward and grabbed his brother's arm, halting his progress. "You can't do this. It's not just stupid, it's suicide."
"No, it's homicide," Raph replied with disturbing calm.
"You can't really expect to do this and survive," Don tried again. "There are at least a hundred and fifty Foot ninja in this city, Raph, and they're all probably pissed as shell because they just lost another clan leader. No matter how good you are, you can't take on that many enemies at once. The odds would be bad even if it was all four of us going."
"What can I say? I like a challenge."
"Dammit, Raphael, this is not a joke!" Don hissed, his normally latent temper frayed by the realization that Raph was actually serious about trying to take on the entire Foot army alone. "You can't do this. We almost lost Leo just a week ago, and now you want to go run off and get yourself killed. Do you really think we could handle that? It would kill us, Raph; you know that. You don't have to do this. The Foot are leaderless right now, and we know they're not the kind of warriors that can lead themselves. They're not a threat to us right now."
Raph sighed, meeting his brother's eyes with his own dark gaze. "Which means that now is the best time to attack. Yer the one who knows logistics an' strategies, Don; what better time ta go after 'em than when they're vulnerable? An' besides, it's not like I'm planning on storming their headquarters or somethin'. They want a fight as much as I do; if they see me, they'll come runnin'. I don't have ta go to them. I know these streets better'n anyone other than Leo; I've run 'em fer years, both with you guys an' with Casey. The fight'll be on my turf."
Don couldn't help the angry words that flew from his mouth in a snarl. "Why are you always so damn set on looking a fight?! Why the hell can't you just be happy with the small amount of peace we're actually getting for a change?"
"'Cause it ain't gonna last, Don," Raph said, rubbing the back of his head in irritation. "Be realistic, bro. This ain't gonna end with Karai dyin'. You oughta know that. They're still a threat; that hasn't changed."
"And you know what else hasn't changed?" Don shot back. "The fact that we fight as a team. The only vigilante in this place is currently passed out in your room. Master Splinter raised and trained us to fight as a team and to only fight out of necessity. A team doesn't consist of just you alone. Necessity doesn't consist of you running out to pick a fight."
Raph sighed. "Look, bro, I ain't gonna fight ya about this. I'm goin' one way or another."
The purple-banded turtle moved to place himself in front of his brother. "No, you're not."
"Yeah I am, Don." He shrugged. "Maybe not tonight. Maybe you go an' wake up Master Splinter an' he orders me not ta go. So I wait. Ya can't watch me all the time, bro; I'm a slippery bastard." With those words, he ducked around his brother, avoiding Don's grab as he swiftly knocked the brainy turtle's feet out from under him. He then headed for the door. "It's just a casual walk, bro. Just goin' ta stretch my legs," With that, he tossed a salute back at Don and disappeared into the sewers.
Don stared after his brother in furious disbelief, then began swearing darkly as he racked his brain for a plan. I swear, as soon as I catch him, I'm going to kill him, he growled to himself. Given how the talk with Raph had gone, Don knew it'd be a waste of time to try and reason with his older brother anymore. And despite Raph's casual dismissal of Master Splinter, Don knew Raph would be moving fast enough to soon be out of reach. Don's only options now were to either go after Raph himself, knock him unconscious and drag him back to the Lair, or to grab Mikey and between the two of them, knock Raph unconscious and drag him back to the Lair. And when he gets back, I can try his "tried and true" method of 'hit first, ask questions later' while he explains what the hell he's thinking.
The brainy turtle's temper was flaring for more reasons than just being ignored and dismissed by Raph. The memory of how Leo looked, lying in that alley covered in blood, still haunted most of Don's dreams, and the thought that Raph was most likely headed towards that same end terrified him. But even beyond that, deeper than that, lay the real reason for Don's anger: Raph's actions were threatening the first real chance at peace that they had ever had since getting involved with the Shredder and the Foot. Don knew he was a pacifist at heart; it was something he was well aware of and the biggest difference that had always stood between him and Raph. It was never that he was afraid or unable to fight, but Don tried to find a way around fighting. Unlike Raph, he didn't get any satisfaction out of living his life with bruises and bloody knuckles. He never ran from a fight, never hesitated to draw arms and go to battle alongside his brothers, but he knew that he fought for the long-term result: peace. Don knew that in their life, permanently defeating the enemies they faced was the only possible way to ensure peace and safety. In that aspect…Raph was right.
Which also pissed him off. Reckless and impulsive as Raph's plan was, it was still realistic. Much as Don would like to believe that the Foot would just find a nice hole to hide in and leave them the shell alone, he knew that they would be out looking for them, like Raph said, seeking to settle the debt.
How can he actually think something through for once, honestly considering all the aspects, and then use that as a reason to go out and do something so stupid?! We're not meant to fight alone.
Don sighed, his own words convincing him. Raph was too serious about this to be deterred, so even with as pissed as Don was, he would probably need Mikey's help. As soon as the decision crystallized, the brainy turtle darted for the bedrooms to drag his younger brother out of bed.
In his haste to get to Mikey, Don didn't notice the shadow that slipped out of the Lair after Raph…
Nor the flash of blue that trailed in the shadow's wake.
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Leo panted slightly as he trailed Raph, cursing his brother and himself silently; Raph for being such a hothead and running off like this, and himself for overestimating his own level of health. Leo grimaced through another protesting twinge from his leg and kept walking.
He'd been improving, he knew he had. His leg was almost completely healed, the wound scabbed over and on its way to closing up, ready to become yet another scar. It no longer bothered him on his short jaunts around the Lair, and he'd assumed that that meant his leg would hold up under a longer walk as well.
And it probably would have, had that "longer walk" not consisted of a mile-long trot through the sewers.
Raph had been setting a steady pace, yet not one that was overly fast. Leo had expected his hotheaded brother to fly out of the Lair at a run in order to put distance between himself and the Lair, but he honestly wasn't moving that quickly. By Leo's guess, Raph was hoping to lose Don (or whoever else came after him) by taking his private route through the sewers; Leo knew it was unlikely that the hothead would be found, because he himself hadn't known about the back ways Raph took until he'd tailed him one evening. Raph was apparently thinking seriously about his fight with the Foot, because the rate he was going at wouldn't leave him winded at all once he made it topside.
Leo, however, was quickly becoming tired, much to his dismay. Nearly two weeks in a bed will do that to you, I suppose.
His leg hadn't reopened, fortunately, but it still pulled unpleasantly at the constant motion, and the muscles around the wound ached. Now Leo was willing to admit (though still reluctantly) that Don might have been correct in his diagnosis that Leo wasn't yet up to regular movement.
However, because of Raph, here he was, limping as quickly as he could through the sewers after his brother. Leo shook his head, trying to control his anger. Raph, you've pulled some stupid stunts before, but this one takes the prize.
Leo had been taking a trip to the bathroom, both for a drink and an excuse to build up his strength un-chaperoned, when he'd heard his brothers arguing. In all honesty, it was a fairly quiet argument; after so many late-night arguments with Leo while trying to sneak out, Raph was skilled at being quiet enough not to wake anyone, and Don was never as loud as his brothers. However, the topic had easily caught Leo's attention, as did the fact that Raph was covered with weaponry. He'd remained hidden in the shadows for a while, hoping that Don would be able to talk Raph out of his little outing, though the hope was admittedly dim; stubborn didn't even come close to describing Raph. Leo had even stayed in place when Raph had knocked Don to the ground, half-expecting their quiet brother to jump right back up and knock some sense into Raph. Rare as the occurrence was, when he got angry, Don was not someone to push around. But Don had remained where he'd fallen, staring after his brother with an expression that looked both furious and shocked, and then bolted for Mikey's room. At that point Leo had slipped out the door after Raph, knowing that Don and Mikey wouldn't have a good chance of finding the hothead before he got topside.
Since he had left the Lair, Leo's anger had been growing steadily, despite his efforts to remain calm. He understood very well Raph's desire for a final, conclusive end; with the leadership responsibilities and the near-chronic tendency towards paranoid protection Leo bore, he was very familiar with the need to ensure that an enemy was completely neutralized. But the way he's going about it…Leo growled, looking forward to beating some sense into his younger brother. You'd think he was a novice with no knowledge of logic or planning. Or his own mortality.
Part of Leo's anger was, like usual, directed at himself. He knew he should have expected something like this, should have known that Raph would be looking for revenge. Next to Leo, anything dealing with the Foot upset Raph the most. Leo chastised himself silently, feeling that he should have expected that Raph would have dozens of pent-up emotions to deal with. But he had been trying so hard to lay his own ghosts to rest…and one ghost in particular had needed a lot of time. The only positive points he could find in this whole situation were the facts that Don had delayed Raph as long as he had, and that Raph didn't seem overly concerned with making good time; both of those "perks" were why Leo could now hear Raph's steady footsteps falling softly ahead of him.
I'm not going to scold him, Leo told himself firmly, trying to tamp down his anger. That'd just make him angry, and shell knows he'd just leave. He's got to know this is stupid. I'm just going to help him to see that, in a calm, collected manner.
Leo snorted quietly.
Yeah, right.
Pushing himself a little harder, Leo closed the gap between himself and his brother until he could see Raph's shadow on the bend of the opposite tunnel wall ahead of him. Limping to a stop, he caught his breath and projected his voice farther into the tunnel.
"Out for a walk, Raphael?"
The shadow on the wall halted, then quickly turned and retraced its steps, growing larger as it approached. Seconds later, Raph emerged from around the bend, bristling with weapons and anger.
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"What the HELL are you doin' out here?!" Raph roared as soon as he saw Leo.
Leo regarded his brother calmly, leaning against the wall in order to relieve the pressure on his injured leg. "Coming after you. I think you'd recognize what that looks like by now."
"Dammit, Leo, you shouldn't be out here!" Raph snarled, guilt beginning to grow unpleasantly in his gut at the fact that his injured brother had felt pressured to come after him. "Ya only just started walkin' around the frickin' Lair; ain't no way yer ready ta be out here!"
"Believe me, I'd much rather be back home, but then you apparently decided that you hadn't done enough stupid things lately and ran off to go pick an unnecessary fight that you can't win."
Raph growled. "You know as well as I do that we gotta do somethin', Leo. There's still an army out there that's gonna be lookin' for us."
"And the keyword there, genius, is us. Meaning all four of us, not just you. It's exactly like Don said, Raph; this plan of yours is just suicide."
"Well what the hell else am I s'posed to do?" Raph exploded, his anger returning and breaking the odd calm he'd found himself in earlier. "This ain't somethin' I can let go. You almost died, bro; again. I almost lost you…again." Raph shook his head. "I'm sick of that happenin', so I'm gonna stop it." His voice took on a pleading tone. "You know what I mean, Leo; protectin' this family is as important ta you as it is ta me. You know I gotta do somethin'."
"You have to do something? Then how about protecting your family?" Leo snapped, startling Raph with both his words and his anger.
"That's what I'm—"
Leo cut him off with a furious gesture. "No, Raphael, that is not what you're going off to do now. What you're going to do is start a battle that we aren't ready for yet, and get yourself killed."
Raph snorted. "Start a battle? Damn, Leo, of anyone, I'd expect you ta understand that I ain't startin' anythin'. This has been goin' longer than we've been alive. I'm just tryin' ta end it."
"In what is quite possibly the stupidest way possible," Leo retorted. "Shell, Raph, you can't take on a hundred Foot ninja. Even if you could hold them off until you killed them one by one, they'd just pump you full of shuriken or sedatives or poison and then kill you. Or use you to draw the rest of us out. Did you ever stop to think about that, Raphael? You know we'd come after you; we never let each other fight any battle alone. And then we'd all be dead."
"Why the hell d'ya think I came out here alone at night? So that ya wouldn't follow me. Damn, Leo, I ain't stupid. I've been tailed by you enough times ta know you'll come after me. That's why I snuck out. It's not like I'm plannin' on stormin' the tower; I'm just goin' out there an' lettin' 'em come to me."
Leo grit his teeth, trying to hold back his anger. "I need you around, Raph. Especially now. What do you think would happen if you left for your fight and got killed? What do you think would happen to us? I can't protect myself right now, Raph, much less Don, Mikey and Splinter. I am just injured baggage right now; that means that one-fifth of our fighting force is down. If you leave and get yourself killed, which you will if you go off like this, we're down by two-fifths. And then what do you think will happen? You're right, Raph; we are going to have to face the Foot eventually. I'm not contesting that. But we have to do it as a team. You think I don't understand the helplessness and frustration that you're feeling? I understand it perfectly."
"Ya think so?" Raph asked darkly. "Did you have ta search for ages ta find the half-dead, bloody body of yer brother in some back alley? Did you have ta sit around for a week wonderin' if yer bro was gonna die, burnt up from the inside out from a fever?"
"No, I had to spend an entire night thinking that all of you were dead," Leo spat. "I had to stand there and watch you three fall and then wake up alone. I had to keep myself from going insane with worry and despair when Karai told me that she was using you three to find the Lair. I had to fight my way to the end of a blood feud while trying not to imagine coming back to find another one of our homes destroyed and my entire family slaughtered," he hissed, pain and anger darkening his eyes. "Don't you dare try to pretend that this hurt you the most."
Raph could feel his heart cringe a bit at the amount of hurt he could hear in Leo's voice. Leo does have more of himself in this than I do…but I need ta do somethin'. I ain't like him, I can't just wait.
Leo sighed, dropping his head. "If you leave, Raph, there's nothing I can do. But please think about what would happen if you left and we were attacked. My duty is to protect this family, and I can't do that. I would last maybe five minutes like this in battle, regardless of how skilled the ninja I faced were. And I want an end to this as badly as you do, Raphael…probably even more than you do. Even if it's just because I have more reasons, regardless of how selfish they are."
"Selfish? How the hell is wantin' the Foot gone selfish?"
"Because it will make things easier for me. Right now, I'm not thinking about the lives it will save, about the attacks the destruction of the Foot will prevent. I'm thinking about my family being safe. I'm thinking about fewer nights spent awake, wondering if you'll come home alive. I'm thinking about more peace of mind for myself. And I'm thinking about cutting the last tie that connects the woman I loved with one of my greatest enemies."
Raph paused, surprised by Leo's candid words, and sighed internally. I ain't stoppin', I'm just gonna listen to him.
"What the hell d'you want from me, Leo?"
"I want you to think about your family, Raph," Leo sighed, stretching his leg slightly and wincing. "All I want is for you to come home. That's all I'm here for. I'm not going to stand here and yell at you for something that I might have done a few months ago myself."
Raph stilled at that, caught off-guard by Leo's admission. They knew Leo had been on a short fuse after their final confrontation with the Shredder, ready and willing to attack any kind of threat as he tried to make up for a failure no one pinned on him. But I didn't know he was willin' ta go that far, Raph thought with some surprise. I never thought he'd be up fer somethin' so big, so—
So dangerous.
The thought echoed in Raph's mind before he could stop it, and the realization made him hiss in annoyance. It was a dangerous thing to try, and yet…and yet he still felt like it needed to be done. The Foot would be in turmoil over the loss of their last and latest leader, and the idea of revenge would quickly overwhelm their common sense. All he had to do was stay one step ahead of them, tire them out as they trailed him, and then it would be easy to pick them off, one by one. But dammit…Leo's right. I'm needed more at home.
Raph sighed, still unwilling to fully let go of this chance. "I didn't just come out here flyin' off the handle, y'know," he said seriously. "I had my reasons."
"What were they?" Leo asked, his tone carefully neutral.
"You guys," Raph said, holding his brother's eyes forcefully. "When you left ta go see the Ancient One an' get yer head straight, I was left in charge. I had ta take over. Mikey, Don an' Splinter all became my responsibility. An' while I was tryin' ta protect our family, what happened? Our home was trashed, we got thrown around the whole damn city, an' we almost didn't make it. An' now this happens, yer outta commission again, an' I ain't waitin' around fer a repeat."
Leo shook his head. "Raph, that's not going to happen again. None of our enemies know where the new Lair is; I think that's obvious, given the lengths Karai went to in order to try and find it. And like Don said, the Foot are leaderless now. They have always been molded solely for blind obedience, nothing more. They will not act until they have a new leader, and it will be a while before they choose a successor. They might even end up eliminating many of their peers in a battle for sovereignty, who knows. We have time, Raph."
"It ain't gonna help us to wait, Leo," Raph insisted. "The longer we wait, the more time we're givin' 'em to regroup."
"I know, Raph. But any advantage that might be gained by attacking now would be lost by you going out there by yourself."
Raph growled and paced away from his brother. He knew that if he made a break for it, Leo wouldn't be able to keep up. An' even if he's followed me around here before, I still know this route better'n he does. But…Raph snorted and turned around, eyeing his brother. But it's Leo. He's serious 'bout followin' me, bum leg an' fresh outta the infirmary an' everythin'. He tried one more time.
"I don't like waitin', bro, especially not now. Waitin' now means we're gonna have ta keep waitin'; I'm serious, Leo, we'll do better by strikin' first. I gotta do somethin'."
"Then do something productive," Leo said firmly. "Spar with Don and Mikey. Improve your skills against long range weapons. Work on your speed and precision. Aim for increasing your endurance; if we did something like this, we'd be facing more enemies than can be taken care of quickly, and that means hours of fighting, like what we faced when…"
"When you got ambushed," Raph finished for him. He studied his brother carefully. "You were tellin' the truth when ya said you were considerin' this. Yer actually serious about this, ain't'cha? Yer not just screwin' with me."
"No, Raph, I'm not. Like I said, I understand where you're coming from. I know something has to be done. If we honestly expect to ever have peace…well, it's not going to happen if the Foot are still around." Leo sighed, exhaustion covering his face. "Why does everything always have to be this hard?"
"Whaddaya mean?" Raph asked, concerned by Leo's actions.
Leo gestured around them to indicate their situation. "We're back between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Raph. If we plan to get rid of the Foot…it's going to have to be all of them. Otherwise, they'll recover; they'll be back. It might be a matter of years, but they'd never let us go. To do that, we'd be talking something other than regular combat, because we just can't win against such numbers in a straight fight. We'd be talking bombs, or poison, but not honorable combat, which means taking responsibility for the deaths of over a hundred men. Raphael, we're talking about wiping out an entire clan." He looked down. "That's a lot of blood to have on your hands…and your conscience."
"But Leo, if we don't…"
"Yeah," Leo murmured in agreement. "If we don't. If we don't, we're looking at countless more years of this war. They'll get another leader eventually, and then we're back where we started, back to whittling them down one or two at a time" He stared at his brother tiredly. "What kind of choice is this? Either I order that we set out to hunt down these men, which means that I spend the next years of my life hoping I haven't completely destroyed all of my honor…or I order that we don't, which means I spend another eighteen years with my heart in my throat, hoping we all make it through another attack, until it's time for me to kill another Shredder. I'll tell you the truth, Raph; were it all of us together, taking them by surprise…I believe we could take out the Foot clan. Perhaps not all at once, but enough that the number of survivors would be easily dealt with later. But attacking like that…I don't know if it feels right. So now it's come down to a bloodbath or spending the rest of our lives fighting. And unfortunately, the choice does have to be made now, because this is the only opening we might ever get." He shook his head. "When did our life end up like this, Raph? When did my choices become nothing more than picking one death scenario over another?"
Raph said nothing for several long moments. "This is what it's like for you, ain't it? " he asked softly, reading the pain and turmoil in his brother's eyes. "All this—all this shit, all the time…this is what you do?"
"Yes. It's not always this—pivotal of a decision, or on such a scale, but yeah. This is it."
Damn…Raph thought. Survival was always something that they all considered, both personal survival and the survival of the clan. But the depth of what their survival meant, the means that had to be taken…that was something Leo had to consider on a whole different level. "How d'ya keep from losin' it, dealin' with all this shit?"
Leo smiled at his brother. "I remember who I do it for."
Raph held his brother's gaze for several long moments, acknowledging the moment of closeness as it stretched between them. Don's words from earlier drifted back to him. "This, all of this, is and has been bothering him a lot more than we thought…"
Damn straight.
"Alright, fine," Raph said finally. "I ain't goin' anywhere."
"Promise?"
"Yeah. C'mon, bro," Raph cajoled, his voice softer than usual. He carefully looped Leo's arm around his own shoulders. "Let's getcha home."
Leo smiled gratefully. "Sounds good. How about carrying me?"
Raph snorted. "Not a chance, tank ass. You walked out here, so you can walk back."
"Tank ass?" Leo repeated, struggling to look offended rather than amused. "Last time I checked, you outweighed me by at least a few pounds."
"Yeah, but it ain't fat," Raph replied, grinning. He held up an arm and flexed his bicep. "It's solid muscle, bro. Lean an' green, just like the ladies like it."
Leo laughed out loud. "Oh right, I'm sure that's exactly—"
A sudden hissing displacement of air cut off whatever he was about to say.
Leo could feel the familiar, tight shiver of warning that he'd spent years honing travel quickly down his spine. He'd learned to trust and enhance this ghost-thin sense of danger over the years, and it had never led him astray. In a heartbeat, he stepped to the side, dragging Raph along as he stumbled away from the sudden, inexplicable billowing of smoke.
An instant later, the smoke cleared, revealing four familiar, red-and-black clad figures.
"Aw, shit," Raph swore darkly.
Leo swallowed. He'd faced his fear of these ninja long ago, back when they'd returned to New York to take down the Shredder. And yet, some of that fear was trying to resurface. This was too much like being back on those rooftops, fatigue and pain pulling at him as he faced enemies he didn't know if he could defeat. His fear had different roots now, though. That first time, his fear had been born of uncertainty, that almost automatic reaction to the unknown; they were a new threat, and therefore meant to be feared since he didn't know the breadth and depth of their skills. Now his fear came from a different source; not so much the fact that he was nearly helpless, but that if they attacked, Raph would probably get himself killed as he tried to tear them all apart.
"What the hell do you jackasses want?" Raph snarled, drawing his sai.
The Elite ninja bowed respectfully to the blue-clad turtle.
"What…the shell?" Raph narrowed his eyes. "What's goin' on, Leo?"
"Got me…"
The four Foot warriors then moved apart, making way for a fifth figure, which moved forward into the poor lighting to reveal a tall, darkly-clad man of Japanese descent. He looked over Raph and Leo slowly, then inclined his head in a mock bow.
"Greetings."
"Who the hell are you?" Raph demanded.
The man glanced at him, then smiled politely. "Nakamura Tetsuo." He then turned from Raph to face Leo. "And you are Hamato Leonardo, I presume."
Leo stared back coolly. "How do you know my name?"
"Easily. You are something of a…celebrity of sorts among our clan."
"A celebrity," Leo repeated wryly. He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Meaning everyone in your clan wants my head."
Tetsuo chuckled. "You are as sharp as they say."
"I'm honored that my enemies hold me in such high regard," Leo said tightly. "What do you want?"
The man smirked. "I thought that you were sharp, Hamato-san. Put that mind of yours to work. I am a human that knows of you and your family, walking through these ungodly sewers with four Foot ninja. What else would I be here for?" His smile turned sharp and dark, and he slowly rested a hand on the sword at his hip.
"I am here for you."
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A/N: OMG, it's done! . (dies) This was a long chapter, and I've been working on it for ages, so I was getting tired of reading the same parts over and over…but I wanted to make sure it was good, since I made you guys wait so long for it. (I do hope it doesn't seem too rushed…) And it's 29 pages, so hopefully the length will appease things a little. ;; I am so sorry again about the wait, and please enjoy. A translation can be found below this for the Japanese I used in this chapter, and…I think that's it. Please R&R, and thanks again. Take care!
Translations!
(1) ikeike: bch